Born in Mount Pleasant, Pa.,
December 30, 1819,
Geary was a man equally at home in politics and the military. He
was a student at Jefferson College in Canons-burg, Pa., when the
death of his father forced him to begin adult life early. Geary
tested a number of professions before settling on law. Enlisting
in the volunteer army for the Mexican War, he won praise as
colonel of the 2d Pennsylvania Infantry, then organized postal
service in California, served for a time as mayor of San
Francisco, and was territorial governor of Kansas until his
strong antislavery views forced his resignation.
When the Civil War began, Geary immediately issued a call in
his home state for troops; so well respected was he that 68
companies responded to his proclamation. Geary selected 15 and
organized the oversized 28th Pennsylvania Infantry. Service with
Brig. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks along the upper Potomac River
brought him a brigadiers commission 25 Apr. 1862. At the Battle
of Cedar Mountain in August of that year, Geary was wounded in
the foot and shoulder. Yet this tall, full-bearded officer with
sharp eyes and an equally sharp tongue soon returned to duty and
assumed command of a division in the XII Corps. He displayed
resoluteness at Chancellorsville, steadfastness at Gettysburg,
extraordinary valor at Lookout Mountain, and administrative
skills in Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Atlanta Campaign. Geary
received brevet promotion to major general while military
governor of Savannah.
In 1866 he was elected to the first of 2 Consecutive terms
as Republican governor of Pennsylvania. On 8 Feb. 1873, less than
3 weeks after leaving the governors post, Geary was fatally
stricken while preparing breakfast for his infant son. He was
buried with state honors in Mount Kalma Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pa.Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the
Civil War" Edited by Patricia L. Faust